


Amendments in the Law

by RedButterfly33



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Azkaban, Dementors (Harry Potter) - Freeform, Gen, Ministry of Magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-30
Updated: 2015-08-30
Packaged: 2018-04-18 01:39:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4687547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedButterfly33/pseuds/RedButterfly33
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Those narrow-minded, old-fashioned, stuck in the past fools!" Hermione muttered angrily as she sat down, slamming a thick black binder on the table. </p><p>"What's all this?" Harry asked, reaching over and flipping the binder open.</p><p>"This is the proposal for amendments in the law that just got turned down for the sixth time!" Hermione explained in frustration.</p><p>Harry skimmed the contents of the first page, his eyes widening in surprise. "Dementors?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Amendments in the Law

* * *

oOo

Harry sighed and stared dejectedly at the stack of finished paperwork on his desk. When he dreamed of being an Auror back at Hogwarts, no one told him about the boring pencil-pushing part of the job.

"Hey mate, you done yet?" Harry looked up from his desk to see the ginger head of his best friend popping up above the wall separating their cubicles. "You know Hermione hates it when we're late."

"Just about." Harry smiled and arranged the papers in a neat pile. "Let's go."

The two Aurors left the office and took the elevator all the way up to the Atrium, then rode in a free telephone booth to Muggle London. When they reached the café where the trio met for lunch every day, Harry and Ron were surprised to find their usual table empty. They exchanged puzzled looks, but shrugged and sat down.

"Should we order?" Ron asked uncertainly, though his stomach growled insistently.

"Let's just wait a few minutes. I'm sure she'll turn up."

They filled the silence with small talk, but kept glancing to the door every couple of seconds. The war had been over for a good couple of years, but the nagging sense of worry every time someone was late was a hard thing to shake.

"We're being paranoid… right?" Ron said, his eyes lingering on the man that had just left the café. Harry muttered a 'yeah' as a response, but he was just as troubled.

Suddenly, the door swung open and the bushy hair of Hermione Granger whipped around her face as she approached her best friends in a brisk pace.

"Those narrow-minded, old-fashioned, stuck in the past fools!" Hermione muttered angrily as she sat down, slamming a thick black binder on the table. Ron breathed a sigh of relief and leaned over to kiss her cheek.

"What's all this?" Harry asked, reaching over and flipping the binder open.

" _This_ is the proposal for amendments in the law that just got turned down for the sixth time!" Hermione explained in frustration.

Harry skimmed the contents of the first page, his eyes widening in surprise. "Dementors?"

Ron leaned in and whispered in his ear, "She's been obsessed with this for a while. It's like S.P.E.W. all over again."

"It is NOT like S.P.E.W. at all!" Hermione exclaimed and pulled the binder over to herself, turning to a certain page, then shoving it in Harry's face. "It's about the inhumane treatment of prisoners!"

"Of Death Eaters, you mean," Ron said with a scowl. "People who tortured and killed for fun. Excuse us if our hearts don't tremble with sympathy for them."

"Some of them had little choice in the matter!" Hermione insisted hotly. "What about people like Draco who were almost forced into it?"

"Malfoy wasn't exactly forced," Ron countered. "He was eager to join, and everyone knew it. He used his mark to bully and intimidate others; we've _seen_ him do it!"

"He didn't know what he was getting into," Harry said. "And he protected us at Malfoy Manor, at a risk to his own life."

"Exactly!" Hermione beamed at Harry. "And what about other kids, or adults for that matter, who didn't realize what it would really mean to join Voldemort at the time? What about Regulus Black?"

Ron waved dismissively. "Those who were forced into it were acquitted."

"And as we all know, there's no way to cheat the system, right?" Hermione said sarcastically. "It's not like anyone we know was sent there for a crime he didn't commit!"

Harry felt his stomach drop.

"That was different, Hermione," Ron said, the casual tone of his voice dissipating. "Sirius was innocent."

"But everyone _thought_ he was guilty! Even Dumbledore!" Hermione insisted.

"He wasn't given a trial!" Ron pointed out.

"Even if he was, there was no evidence of his innocence," Harry said quietly. "Pettigrew was presumed dead, the Fidelius charm – broken... The whole explanation was too far-fetched, even if it _was_ the truth. He would've been sent to Azkaban either way."

"See?" Hermione said, glaring at Ron. "And he basically spent thirteen years being tortured by those horrid creatures! No one deserves that fate, guilty or not. We can't stand being around them for more than a few minutes, can you imagine _years_ of living under their influence day and night? You know most people go insane sooner rather than later, and they all start wishing for death within the first month!"

"And what do you suggest we do about it, Hermione?" Ron said. "Do you want us to just release the Dementors, let then have free reign of the countryside? You know there's no way to completely destroy them, it's either having them feed on prisoners or on normal people!"

"So we should just have them prey on people _we_ choose? Dragons or hags are dangerous too; does that mean we should pick out their victims?"

The two of them stared each other down intensely, then turned as one to Harry and said:

"Harry, tell him!"

"Harry, tell her!"

Harry stared thoughtfully at the black binder. Both of his friends made excellent points.

"It's true that Azkaban houses most of the remaining Death Eaters, and I'm sorry Hermione, but I really don't have a lot of sympathy to extend to cold-blooded murderers like the Lestranges."

"Ha!" said Ron, reclining back in his chair, a triumphant smirk on his face.

" _However_ ," Harry continued, "they are not the only ones in that prison. Remember Dumbledore's father, sentenced there for life because he cursed those muggle boys who terrorized his daughter? Barty Crouch's mother, who took her son's place? They had committed a crime, but nothing deserving of _years_ with the Dementors. And remember when Hagrid was sent there only on grounds of suspicion? Sturgis, when he was Imperiused into trying to break into the Ministry? What about Dung, when he impersonated an Inferius, or Merlin, _Stan Shunpike_? Those were all people who were innocent." He licked his lips, purposefully avoiding the subject of his godfather. "We have the same punishment for all crimes, and you have to agree that it's not fair." He threw a look at Ron, whose smile had turned into a frown.

"Ha," Hermione said victoriously.

"Yeah, okay, so the justice system is not exactly flawless," Ron admitted, straightening up again. "We have no way of knowing who was under Imperius and who wasn't, and yes, a few people slip through the cracks. We still can't just _release_ all of these Dementors into the wild! What if they start sucking souls left and right?"

"I have a proposal for just that," Hermione said, taking the binder again and flipping through it. "We can add a Dementor Task Force in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. That way there'll always be someone to ward them off if they get too close to populated areas, _and_ Dementors are intelligent enough for the Ministry to explain the situation to them. _This could work!_ "

"And who's gonna guard the prison then?" Ron countered immediately.

"Aurors," Hermione shot back.

"It's in the middle of the ocean, Hermione, it's not fit for human habitation, and it's too far out to Apparate to!"

"So they'll use portkeys! I've compiled a rotation schedule that will be fair to everyone, but still keep the prison fully staffed at all times!"

"We have more important things to do than walk between cells!"

"More important than keeping murderers behind bars?!"

"It's just the way things have always worked, these law amendments will never pass!"

"That's only because of narrow-minded wizards like you, who're too stuck in their ways to even _consider_ –"

"Enough!" Harry exclaimed, effectively ending the argument. Ron and Hermione shut up, turning to look at him. "Nobody wants Dementors just roaming Britain freely, but we have to choose the lesser of two evils. This won't be easy, but we can talk to Kingsley about it. I'm sure we can convince him to at least give it some thought, and his word can override any officials that are turning you down."

Ron mumbled something that sounded like 'It will never work' and pouted grumpily until the waitress brought them their lunch.


End file.
